Rexburg

Friday afternoon Stephanie, Raquel and I hopped in Stephanie's car and began our journey to the great town of Rexburg to visit Stephy's sister, Maria. I was so excited to go. I needed a break from Provo and from the BYU Utah scene. Crazy I know. We began our drive to Idaho and had some great conversations. We arrived in Rexburg at about 7:30pm and met up with Maria. We had planned on going shopping for food after we dropped off our stuff but we found something we had not planned on. Maria's apartment was out of toilet paper. You may not think this is a big deal but driving for 4 hours in a car usually leads to some need of relief. This element made the little trip to the store so much more important. Raquel and I thought that we would take a short detour to visit the loo in the store. This was not to be - they were cleaning the women's restroom just at the time we were there. We finally made it home and took care of business.

One thing i did notice while at the store was the evidence of the Idaho potato farms nearby. There were men there in their buttoned-up-red-plaid shirts with the work boots buy sacks of potatoes. I absolutely love it. As most people know I love watching people - and Idaho had a fresh group of people.

It was so good to be in Idaho. I wish there were words to describe the feelings that come every time I enter that state. The closest I can get is to say that it feels like coming home. Coming back to people who are down to earth and non-judgmental.

I think one of the best parts of the whole trip is that I did absolutely NOTHING! We watched 4 movies in the space of 24 hours. If I would have stayed in Provo, that extent of relaxation would have never happened.

I was able to take a brief tour of BYU-I. It was really a nice campus (a heck of a lot smaller than BYU). The whole of Rexburg reminded me of a military base. I think that was because of the lack of trees and the amount of "barrack" looking buildings in the area. There wasn't much else there.

One of the best parts though was the temple. The Rexburg temple was gorgeous! What a blessing for the students and local farmers.

We ended our trip with a party with Maria's Roommates (who were very sweet and awesome girls). It was at someone's home in Rexburg and they were making homemade fries. It was so nice to just be in a home and to be with Idaho people. The people in that home were so welcoming and inviting. They really wanted to get to know us as friends. So many people in Provo (I have fallen in the trap as well) seem to only want to be friends if there is a dating potential and eventually marriage. It is really annoying (I won't bring down this entry by venting about that). It was such a great weekend. I fell in love with everyone we met. The people were true to the Idahoans I know and love, they were friendly, hard worker and fun to be with.